19.01: A view from the management office, which is where we've made our home for the day. Here's Arlene (management), Miti (live broadcast mixer) and Dan Green (sound-man and producer extraordinaire).

18.57: Your name's not down, you're not coming in…

18.46: And the venue from the front....

18.41: The view from the back....

18.37: Here's a not-particularly-good pic of Will from the soundcheck earlier! (It was dark in there…)

18.15: Apologies for the gaps in service. The internet connection here is not having a good day. *At all*. But here's a pic of the dressing room…

17.51: Went for a wander around Cologne earlier. Lovely place. Here are some photographic highlights...

More of these thrilling tourist shots to come later…

17.49: That's an unconventional drumkit.

17.45: A sky/ceiling full of stars…

17.19: The band have arrived and are currently soundchecking. Here's a couple of pics…

17.10: Here's the view Chris will have this evening…

16:55: It's a lovely day in Cologne. The fans sitting outside the venue already are basking in sunshine.

If you're reading this in the queue, then HELLO!

16:48 - Hello and welcome to the first live blog of the Ghost Stories era. For the next few hours, we'll be blogging live from backstage at the E-Werk in Cologne, where Coldplay will perform tonight. Thanks for stopping by. (If you could all keep your fingers crossed that the venue's rather patchy wifi connection will hold out, that'd be good.)